JP7208604B1 - Non-contact blood flow observation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a non-contact blood flow observation device capable of rapidly and clearly observing the state of blood flow in a non-contact manner. This non-contact blood flow observation device 1 includes an image acquirer 2 for acquiring a first image 2im of a moving image or a series of still images of a region containing blood vessels, and a different color corresponding to each luminance gradation in advance. and assigning the color corresponding to the luminance to each one or more pixels in the first image 2im to create a second image 3im, and displaying the second image 3im of a moving image or a series of still images. and an image processor 3 for displaying on the device 5 .

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a non-contact blood flow observation device capable of observing the state of blood flow in a non-contact manner.

The condition of blood vessels is often observed using various observation devices in addition to general visual inspection and palpation. Among such observation apparatuses, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, there are known observation apparatuses that observe an image by applying light to a region including target blood vessels. Since such an apparatus performs observation without touching the human body or the like (that is, without contact), the risk of infection can be suppressed and rapid observation is possible.

JP 2012-152459 A JP 2013-150712 A International publication WO2017/051455

However, the observation devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are limited to adding contrast to images of blood vessels at different depths from the skin, and further technological developments are possible as observation devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact blood flow observation device capable of rapidly and clearly observing the state of blood flow in a non-contact manner.

In order to achieve the above object, a non-contact blood flow observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention examines a blood vessel at a site that receives or has received treatment, or at a site that receives or has received treatment for blood vessel treatment. an image acquirer for acquiring a first image of a moving image or a series of still images of an area including; assigning the color corresponding to the luminance to create a second image, and displaying the periodic change in the color corresponding to the periodic change in the luminance following pulsation in the second image of a moving image or a series of still images; an image processor for displaying on the device.

Preferably, said colors corresponding to said luminance gradations consist of blue, green, red and mixtures thereof. Preferably, further, said color when said brightness is highest is one of blue or red, and said color when said brightness is lowest is the other of blue or red.

Preferably, the image processor causes the display device to display the second image and the first image simultaneously on a separate screen.

According to the non-contact blood flow observation device according to the present invention, it is possible to observe the state of blood flow quickly and clearly in a non-contact manner.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a usage example of a non-contact blood flow observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a photograph showing an example of a first image acquired by an image acquirer of the non-contact blood flow observation device; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an image processor implemented by a computer system in the non-contact blood flow observation device; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of colors corresponding to brightness in an image processor of the non-contact blood flow observation device; FIG. 10 is a photograph showing an example of a second image created by the image processor of the non-contact blood flow observation device; FIG. 6 is a photograph obtained by adding arrows indicating positions of sample pixels to FIG. 5. FIG. FIG. 7 is a graph showing changes in brightness over time in the sample pixels of FIG. 6; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example when the image processor of the non-contact blood flow observation apparatus same as the above causes the display device to display the second image and the first image simultaneously on a separate screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below. A non-contact blood flow observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an image acquirer 2 and an image processor 3, as shown in FIG.

The image acquirer 2 acquires a first image 2im of a moving image or a series of still images by imaging a region including blood vessels. A region containing a blood vessel can be a site that receives or has received treatment, a site that receives or has received vascular treatment for treatment (and its vicinity), and the like.

The region containing blood vessels is not particularly limited, and can be the whole body. What is shown in FIG. 2 is an example of the first image 2im when the region containing the blood vessel is the finger of the hand.

In order to acquire a clear first image 2im with the image acquirer 2, the area containing the blood vessels can be illuminated by a light illuminator 4 (a ring illuminator in FIG. 1). The light is chosen appropriately to obtain a clear first image 2im, and can be white, green, blue, etc., for example. A general illuminator such as a shadowless lamp may be used instead of the light illuminator 4 .

The image processor 3 processes the first image 2im sent from the image acquirer 2 . The image processor 3 is usually realized by a computer system as shown in FIG. 3, and has an image processing program in a program memory 3a. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 3b denotes a CPU, reference numeral 3c denotes a work memory, and reference numeral 3d denotes other parts including an input/output unit.

The image processor 3 associates different colors in advance with each luminance gradation of the first image 2im. The gradation is, for example, 256 gradations. Colors corresponding to luminance gradations can be composed of, for example, blue, green, red, and mixtures thereof. The color at the highest brightness can be blue, and the color at the lowest brightness can be red. Or conversely, the color at the highest brightness may be red and the color at the lowest brightness may be blue. In these cases, the color in the middle of the luminance is green. Between blue and green is their mixed color, and between green and red is their mixed color. By doing so, the order of blue, green, and red is the order of the wavelength of light, which is generally easy to understand.

In FIG. 4A, the colors corresponding to the luminance gradations are blue, green, red, and their mixed colors, and the color when the luminance is the highest (indicated by the number 255 in the figure) is It is blue, the color at the lowest brightness (indicated by the number 0 in the figure) is red, and the color in the middle of the brightness (indicated by the number 128 in the figure) is green. It is converted and shown. 4(b), (c), and (d) show the blue, green, and red components of FIG. 4(a). 4(b), (c), and (d) are intended to make it easier to understand the original colors since FIG. 4(a) is shown in grayscale for convenience of illustration.

The image processor 3 creates a second image 3im by allocating the brightness to a color associated in advance for each pixel in the first image 2im. Alternatively, in some cases, the image processor 3 assigns brightness (average brightness, median brightness, etc.) to a previously associated color for each of a plurality of pixels in the first image 2im to generate the second image. It is also possible to create 3im. Then, the image processor 3 causes the display device 5 to display the second image 3im of a moving image or a series of still images.

In the second image 3im, which is a moving image or a series of still images, in the blood vessel portion, the color changes according to the state of blood flow (more specifically, according to the change in the amount of hemoglobin, the shape of the blood vessel, etc.). do. In areas without blood vessels, the color is largely unchanged. Therefore, the non-contact blood flow observation device 1 can observe the state of blood flow quickly and clearly in a non-contact manner. In addition, since the non-contact blood flow observation device 1 can observe the state of blood flow in a non-contact manner, the risk of infection is suppressed, and operations that affect the human body, such as injection of a contrast medium, are not required.

FIG. 5(a) shows an example of the second image 3im when the area containing the blood vessel is the finger of the hand. (2), (3), (4), and (5)) are converted to grayscale and shown. 5(b), (c), and (d) show the blue, green, and red components of FIG. 5(a). 5(b), (c), and (d) are intended to make it easier to understand the original colors since FIG. 5(a) is shown in grayscale for convenience of illustration.

FIGS. 6(a)-(d) are the same views as FIGS. 5(a)-(d), respectively, with sample pixels indicated by arrows. FIG. 7 shows temporal changes in brightness of sample pixels. (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) in FIG. 7 correspond to the time (1 ), (2), (3), (4) and (5). Note that the vertical and horizontal axes in FIG. 7 are values before conversion into actual luminance values and time, so units are not shown.

In FIG. 7, it can be seen that the luminance changes according to the pulsation. The luminance change in FIG. 7 corresponds to the color change in the sample pixels shown in FIGS. 6(a) to (d). Specifically, according to FIGS. 6(b) to (d), the green component is the largest at any time from time (1) to (5), but at time (1) there is a small amount of blue component, At time (2) there is no blue component, at time (3) there is no blue component and some red component, at time (4) there is less red component and at time (5) there is no red component. There will be a little blue component.

In addition, since the pixels forming the second image 3im are displayed at positions corresponding to the pixels forming the first image 2im, the image processor 3 displays the second image 3im as shown in FIG. If the screen is divided and displayed on the display device 5 at the same time as the first image 2im, it becomes easy to understand which part of the first image 2im is changed.

In addition, the non-contact blood flow observation device 1 can be integrated as a whole, and for example, a camera-equipped terminal such as a smart phone or a notebook computer can be used.

Although the non-contact blood flow observation device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified within the scope of the claims. Various design modifications are possible.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 non-contact blood flow observation device 2 image acquirer 2im first image 3 image processor 3a program memory 3b CPU
3c work memory 3d other parts of computer system 3im second image 4 light illuminator 5 display device

Claims (4)

an image acquirer for acquiring a first image, either in motion or a series of still images, of the site to be or has undergone treatment or of a region containing blood vessels of the site to be or have undergone vascular treatment for treatment ;
A different color is preliminarily associated with each luminance gradation, and a second image is created by assigning the color corresponding to the luminance to each pixel in the first image, and moving or continuous an image processor that causes a display device to display the periodic change in color corresponding to the periodic change in luminance following pulsation in the second image, which is a still image;
A non-contact blood flow observation device. In the non-contact blood flow observation device according to claim 1,
The non-contact blood flow observation device, wherein the colors corresponding to the brightness gradations are blue, green, red, and mixtures thereof. In the non-contact blood flow observation device according to claim 2,
The non-contact blood flow observation device, wherein the color when the brightness is the highest is either blue or red, and the color when the brightness is the lowest is the other of blue or red. In the non-contact blood flow observation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image processor is a non-contact blood flow observation device that causes the display device to display the second image and the first image simultaneously on separate screens.

Images